One of the regular observations made of Hinduism is that it has ‘too many rituals.’ In school, our history books assure us that one of the virtues of reformers was that they did not like ‘meaningless rituals.’ Well the ‘historians’ who write such muck are fools. Even the word Ritual is a package that contains so many processes operating at so many different levels. Homam, Yagya, Puja, Japam, Sankirtanam, Antiyeshti, Namakaranam, Prayaschitam, they are all saddled with the inadequacy of the word ‘ritual’. Samskaras seem a better all purpose word, – “putting together, making perfect, getting ready, to prepare”, or “a sacred or sanctifying ceremony” – and “puja vidhi” for all processes connected with worship and working with Shakti seems more appropriate.

Before we get into this business of puja vidhi something vital about Shakti and spirituality needs to be understood. It is something that the average English educated Hindu of today does not comprehend, but unless it is grasped we can’t move forward. So here goes.

Spirituality and Shakti cannot be found on the physical plane. By its very nature, its intrinsic setting, it belongs to a higher vibration or a different dimension. It is an intense and refined energy which cannot be found in the denseness of embodiment. All such processes are, at their core, systems and methods to access Shakti which can transform people. We reach UP-wards to access this Force, and then, after a while, it ignites within you and then things go much better. {Within does not mean the physical body} This does not mean the need to keep drawing Shakti stops, very far from it. The more Shakti you have the more you can mainline. But this concept is vital to grasp. If you cannot get on board with this, then indeed you are better off writing lies in books about ‘meaningless rituals’. In his extraordinary new book on the Vedic Yagna, titled Ardor, Roberto Callaso has spelt it out – “If one wants to talk about anything religious, some kind of relation has to be established with the invisible. There has to be a recognition of powers situated over and beyond social order. Social order itself must seek to establish some relations with that invisible.”

People who have no experience or even basic comprehension of Shakti nevertheless feel they can comment on it.

The great, even incredible, thing about how samskaras and pujas were constructed and transmitted in Yogic culture is that even if the person doing the ritual has no to very little idea what is going on, as long as it is being done Correctly the Shakti flows. This really takes some getting used to.

All pujas and homams and so on, they are all methodologies to build up Shakti in double quick time and then release it into the surroundings. I was impelled to write this after reading that dishonest hit job on Gurus by some Kang lady in her book. At one point Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev explains to her that the Saptarishi puja in Kashi is amazing … “when the priests performed the ritual I was amazed… the stacks and stacks of energy they built, these Brahmin guys who only live for money” He is absolutely right but the author could not comprehend what an opportunity she was given by Fate and she let it go, instead of learning something valuable, because there is “disturbing amount of ritual” at Isha Foundation. This is how people miss the Avasaram, the karmic moment of possibility, the chance to evolve.

It is so in any good temple and with any good samskara. I have so many personal experiences of just that. Chidambaram temple is unique in that it does six abhiskhekams a day instead of the normal one or two – 4 in the morning till 10 at night with just 3 hours off in the middle of day.

And Chidambaram is an incredible Kshetram, the supreme Kshetram, because of that. The priests change each day, but the wallop of Shakti that flows never dips below a certain level of potency because of the manner in which the puja is performed. Flawless execution carries the day even if knowledge and Shakti are limited. When you stand there and see the Ratna Sabhapati Ruby Nataraja lit up with camphor flames at 11 am you have seen one of the great spiritual events on the planet.

Every temple has a different Shakti setting and impact. I have seen pujas at all the Aru Padai Veedu of Muruga. The abhshekam with bhasmam that they do at Tirrutanni releases a particular sort of Shakti. The white chandan Alamkaram they do to Skanda at the shore temple in Thiruchendur is one of surpassing beauty and power. But above all you have not lived unless you have attended the Uccha puja at Palani. They create a wall of fire and sound and the whole area is flooded with Akasha tattva. I have made a famous video on this for those interested, it is on YouTube . It is akin to a nuclear blast homam, done as a puja, but Palani is really supernatural in its impact.

I recall walking into the Surya Shivan temple, Shiva as Surya in murti form, at evening Deeparadhana and it was like being kicked by an elephant.

My great limitation in this life is my lack of interest in developing the accuracy needed to transmit such processes. I practice and teach a yogic process which makes me a living havan kunda so the shakti of any process is instantly accessed. I can walk into almost any puja and figure out what is going on at the Shakti level. But when you need to teach and transmit these things great skill is needed to do it accurately. I have the Shakti and the knowledge, but not the temperament to accquire the skills needed. It is actually a safeguard for this embodiment. In previous rounds I had developed scary levels of abilities in these matters and proceed to misuse them for stupid things – read sex and money and fame. So the Gurus have made sure I don’t go there again. I have such memories… things and procedures I have never read, heard or seen yet intense and immense details of weird ingredients and peculiar actions… well, well, we all do stupid things in our spiritual infancy….

Even the simple act of lighting an oil or ghee lamp is a powerful intervention of Shakti. It is a play of tattvas. The lamp is prithvi or earth, metal or clay or whatever though nowadays people use glass too which is fused silica so we can stretch the point and consider it earth. The oil or ghee is Jala tattva, air is anyways present and then we have to bring our conscious volition, our will, our sankalpa into play by igniting the Angi tattva. When you do that, no matter how dense your consciousness, a large amount of Akasha tattva releases into the surroundings.

When you have Shakti, it becomes a different thing altogether. My disciples think is is a big deal that the flames of homams respond to my hands and follow me. I have seen Yogis where they rise up and wash over the entire body so I don’t get any swelled head over such a minor thing. But every day first action on awakening, light the diya. I never miss that.

In one sense one should ultimately go beyond processes but to disparage and disdain them and call them meaningless is to succumb to the Asura Prakriti. Our puja vidhis were created by great rishis and unless you have surpassed them please shut the hell up and show some humility while at it.

The pictures I use. The Homam was an extraordinary Dhanwantri one at the temple of the same name in Coimbatore a few years back. I am being deliberately mischievous in showing Yogi Adityanath but look at the flames and look at the Murti of Gorakshanath. It should shake you if you have the slightest sensitivity.

The fiery photo is an example of the ‘disturbing amount of ritual’ in Isha. I bless everybody they all experience similar ‘disturbance’ in their life. The last pic is Yours Truly, Sri Guru Rohit Arya, working purely with shakti to energize a small murti. I DO NOT recommend this method. Why I act so I have already explained.

Pujas work. They are not meaningless, but power packed methodologies to evolve you. Sarvam Shivamayam!

2 thoughts on “THE SHAKTI ASPECT OF HINDU ‘RITUALS’”

Acceptance with out questioning is sometimes needed when you start out on these kind of spiritual activities. Sadly most of our school education is based on questioning. So, just because you don’t find the right person or guru to explain or answer your questions, people end up not going through the opportunity to do and experience. In some ways blessed are those people who has a grand parent or elder in his family who can help you cross the initial barrier either with conviction or force